Opened in Geneva the exhibition of the controversial anatomist von Hagens

Anatomical exhibition «Body Worlds – the life cycle of» the anatomist Gunther von Hagens, the infamous under the name of «Doctor Death», was opened in Geneva. The plans of the founders – once to arrive in Moscow, the correspondent of RIA Novosti.

Change people’s lives

A unique exhibition, which will be open until January 7, 2018, consists of real human bodies and organs treated with polymer plastination. Just in the exhibition center Palexpo is presented more than 200 plastinates showing not only human in every detail from birth to death, but all the internal organs separately. The audio guide was voiced by von Hagens, which tells visitors not only about the exhibits but also about the scientific researches, as well as about the history of anatomy and the motives of donors in their bodies for experiments. As expected, the exhibition will be visited by about 500 thousand people.

«I want people to go out with of this exhibition is inspired because they see here in the first place, themselves, and life… Everything we do with our bodies matters. Everything you eat, it dissolves and becomes a part of you. If you are active and play sports, it will provide you immediate effect. And we did this exhibition to obvious to show it all to invest it into people’s heads and give them knowledge. It will change their lives», — told RIA Novosti the wife of the Creator of the plastination technique of von Hagens and curator of exhibitions, Body Worlds Angelina valley.

According to her, all represented in the exhibition information presented in as accessible language to be understood not only by professionals but also by young children. In addition, many of those who come to the exhibition had never seen a dead body before, so the creators pay great attention to the aesthetic third-party exposure. This is a qualitatively distinguishes them from similar exhibitions that are held around the world. The exhibition also with the help of educational video describes in detail about the process of plastination.

«The more open we are, the less controversial interpretation of our work», — said the curator.

Will the exhibition in Russia?

Speaking about the possibility of a visit Body Worlds in Russia, Angelina valley said that such a desire is. However, she was concerned about cultural misunderstanding and yet necessary partners and sponsors.

«The world is big, we’ve been lots of places, and Russia is one of those places where we would like to come. But we must take into account many things when we enter a new cultural environment. For example, we do not speak the language, we need partners and we need sponsors…. So we are not sure this will work in Russia. It might work, but we have not yet tried» — she said.

Curator of the exhibition said that the process of plastination is very expensive, but so far all the exhibitions and laboratory works are carried out exclusively on funds raised from ticket sales.

Technology and training

Von Hagens invented the technique of plastination, which allows to keep living organisms in 1977. The method is based on the replacement of the entire fluid body of hardening plastic, which allows it to freeze in whatever position. Thus a dead body can store up to 50 thousand years. Plastination is used for the bodies of people who decided to donate, only there are more than 17 thousand all over the world (about 7.5 thousand men, 9.5 thousand were women), of which nearly 2 thousand people have already died. The creation of one of plastinate takes about 1500 hours.

The work of von Hagens exhibited in 26 countries around the world, they saw more than 45 million people. Currently there are two permanent exhibitions Body Worlds in Amsterdam and Berlin. Another Museum opens next week in the German city of Heidelberg, where the doctor began his work in the 70s. Look at the whole production process of plastination in the laboratory of von Hagen «Plastinarium» in the German city of Guben.

According to the organizers of Body Worlds, along with the aesthetic component, the exhibition carries an even and an educational element. For example, compare the lungs of a healthy person and the lungs of a smoker can help more people to quit Smoking. And enlarged liver alcoholic needs to indicate the harm of excessive drinking. In the Geneva version of the exhibition also explores the influence of the power of the human body, as well as regular exercise.

Scandals and criticism

Despite the huge interest from the public, the opening of Body Worlds in Geneva has caused negative reaction of deputies of the conservative people’s party of Switzerland. The representative of the party in the government of the Canton of Geneva mark Falke said that the show «leaves a feeling of disgust» is blasphemy, and the demonstration of the bodies can not carry any educational sense. According to him, this exposure violates the Constitution of Geneva, as contrary to the principle of the protection of human dignity.

The organizers of the exhibition to those statements answered with statistics, presenting the findings of a survey conducted among the visitors of previous exhibitions. So, only 5% of respondents felt that in some way exhibited plastinate can pose a threat to human dignity.

Aesthetics von Hagens is not the first time is a mixed reaction from the audience. He says, that his exposition is primarily educational in nature. However, in a number of countries in relation to the anatomist and his Institute of plastination was prosecuted. Thus, the Prosecutor’s office in London opened a case against the pH of the Hagens, who conducted a public autopsy in a London art gallery «Atlantis». And in Russia «Dr. Death» appeared in 2002 as a witness in the case of delivery to its Institute 56 dead and 400 preparations of the brain from Novosibirsk. It was after these scandals von Hagens and began to use in their experiments, only the bodies of donors.